Hogwarts presents A Christmas Carol
by Mandy of the Amoeba
Summary: Yes, I know someone has already done a spoof of this play, but this isn't a spoof. Seriously. Just read it....it's not really much of anything yet, but this is just the first part, and it's short..
1. Hogwarts Presents a Christmas Carol - Ch...

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A/N: Sorry if this is a bit unoriginal....it's not a Christmas Carol parody, exactly, because I'm not actually going to write out the script. This is going to focus mostly on the behind-the-curtain stuff. Next part should be up soon...it's not written, yet, but I have it mostly planned on. As always, I own nothing. And please, R/R if you like it!  
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"Some party, huh?" Ron yawned, making his way down to the Great Hall with his two best friends. Last night had been the annual Halloween feast, and everyone was still in a state of somewhat exhausted euphoria.   
  
Harry groaned slightly in response. "Yes, but I'm sure I ate way too many Chocolate Frogs. I don't think I'm up to eating breakfast this morning..."  
  
"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Hermione said matter-of-factly, sitting down at the Gryffindor table. Harry was about to reply when Dumbledore stood up and cleared his throat. The room was soon quieted as they waited for the Headmaster to speak.  
  
"Everyone, I have an announcement to make. I'm sure most of you are familiar with Dicken's classic story of A Christmas Carol..." There were several nods from around the room; the most blank faces came from Slytherin purebloods. "Well, although the holidays are still a couple of months away, Hogwarts is going to be holding auditions for the play form of A Christmas Carol. They will be next Friday, open to both students and staff. Thank you!" Dumbledore sat back down, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief.  
  
The Hall was immediatly exploding with conversation. "I've always wanted to be in a play...." Ron said thoughtfully, chewing his scrambled eggs. A snort was heard from behind him.  
  
"You? Audition for a play?" Draco sneered, on his way out of the Great Hall. "The whole lot of you Gryffindor's couldn't survive in a theatre if your life depended on it."  
  
"Think the Slytherin's can do better?" Harry said angrily, getting to his feet. Without waiting for a response, he added, "Out of Gryffindor and Slytherin, the member that gives the best performance earns twenty galleons for their house." The words surprised Harry, but he said them before giving the matter thorough thought. Draco grinned maliciously.  
  
"You're on, Potter. I'll see you and all your little friends at the auditions, then." With a final smirk, Malfoy walked off, closely flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione turned to Harry.  
  
"What did you just DO?" she hissed frantically. Harry shrugged.  
  
"Don't worry about it....you know the lot of us can act better than them any day." he replied confidantly, getting up from the table. Ron nodded in agreement, but Hermione was shaking her head.   
  
"Harry, don't you get it?" she said, exasperated. "Most of the Slytherins are from very high-class families....they KNOW the theatre, and most of them have got to be excellent actors to lie as well as they do." Harry blanched slightly, but shrugged again.  
  
"Eh, no matter. We'll win." he said with more confidance than he felt.  
  
  



	2. Hogwarts Presents a Christmas Carol - Ch...

A/N: Yup, Part 2 of my story. People seemed to like the first part, which inspired me to get crackin' on the next installment. As always, I own nothing. Special thanks to Web Writer Witch, alias Travis, for his help. Oh, and don't bother telling me that some of the characters are missing....I'm aware of it, I just figure if you include ALL the characters, the play would get way too complicated. Besides, I figure there are a couple of scenes they'll cut out to make it shorter for a school production. And for the purpose of my fic, Lupin has returned as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.  
  
  
  
Classes let out an hour early on the day of auditions, which were being held in the Great Hall. The acting was done in groups, with each witch or wizard reading the part that they were aiming to get. Ron, Harry, and Hermione all clapped politely as Draco Malfoy, Hannah Abbott and Colin Creevey finished their audition. "Bet you Colin'll get Tiny Tim...." Ron whispered.  
  
"Yeah, and Draco'll be Scrooge." Harry snickered. Hermione frowned slightly in thought.  
  
"I don't know about that....I heard Draco listed Tiny Tim as one of his choices, and he IS a pretty good actor. Besides....Snape is auditioning." she replied. Harry and Ron both laughed.  
  
"That settles it, then. Snape's bound to be Scrooge." Ron said a bit loudly, recieving several "shh's" from the people around him.  
  
The rest of the auditions passed without much excitement. To the students surprise, several members of the staff chose to try out. Besides Snape, there was Hagrid, McGonagall, Lupin, and even Professor Trelawny.   
  
"Thank you all for trying out! The cast list will be posted in the Great Hall by 5 P.M. tomorrow!" Dumbledore called as everyone began to exit.  
  
"I completely screwed THAT up..." Ron muttered. He had auditioned for the role of Bob Cratchit, but he wasn't all that confidant of his own acting skills.  
  
"Oh, come on. I'm sure we all did fine." Hermione reasoned. "Let's just get a good night's sleep and not think about the casting."  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Despite her words, all anyone talked about the next day was who they thought got cast. By 5 P.M., everyone was crowded around a bulletin board in the Great Hall. The cast list read as follows:  
  
**  
_Narrator: Albus Dumbledore  
Scrooge: Severus Snape  
Fred: Harry Potter  
Bob Cratchit: Ron Weasley  
First Solicitor: Vincent Crabbe  
Second Solicitor: Gregory Goyle  
Marley's Ghost: Fred Weasley  
Ghost of Christmas Past: Ginny Weasley  
Mr. Fezziwig: Remus Lupin  
Mrs. Fezziwig: Minerva McGonagall  
Young Jacob Marley: George Weasley  
Young Scrooge: Draco Malfoy  
Belle: Cho Chang  
Ghost of Christmas Present: Rubeus Hagrid  
Mrs. Cratchit: Hermione Granger  
Martha Cratchit: Parvati Patil  
Peter Cratchit: Kevin Whitby  
Belinda Cratchit: Lavender Patil  
Tiny Tim: Colin Creevey  
Clara, Fred's Wife: Angelina Johnson  
Want: Eleanor Branstone  
Ignorance: Dennis Creevey  
Ghost of Christmas Future: Sibyll Trelawny  
Larchmont: Malcolm Baddock  
Wealthy Friend: Graham Pritchard  
Miss Grubb, The Housekeeper: Pansy Parkinson  
Mrs. Dill, The Laundress: Katie Bell  
  
Anyone else who auditioned for a part will be cast as various children and townspeople. The first rehearsal will take place tomorrow, November 7th, beginning right after the supper dishes are cleared out of the Great Hall._**  
  
  
Hermione was the first out of the trio to read the cast list. "We're all in!" she said happily. "I'm Mrs. Cratchit!"  
  
"Who're we?" Ron and Harry asked simultaneously, then laughed.   
  
"Well, Harry, you're Scrooge's nephew Fred - " she started, but Harry interupted her.  
  
"Who's Scrooge?"  
  
"Erm....Snape." she replied, preparing herself for his reaction. Harry groaned, while Ron burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" Hermione asked, while Harry glared at his redheaded friend.  
  
"Just....the thought of Harry having to be all merry and cheerful to Snape...." Ron chortled, shaking his head. "Oh, what part did I get?" Hermione blushed slightly as she answered him.  
  
"...Bob Cratchit. That's one of the biggest parts!" she said, trying to cover up her embarrassment at being cast as Ron's wife. He was about to reply, when they were all interupted.  
  
"Harry! Harry! Didja see? We both got parts, Dennis and me! Isn't that the greatest?" Colin squeaked, literally bouncing with happiness. His younger brother Dennis was having an almost identical reaction.   
  
"Wow, Harry, we're gonna be in a play together! Gee, someday I'm going to be able to grow up and say that I was in a play with Harry Potter!" Dennis said, staring in awe at the older boy. Harry was turning various shades of red.  
  
"Yeah. Um, that's great." he said, edging away before someone could come by and witness his fan gathering. But it was too late; Draco had spotted them.  
  
"Well, well, well. If it isn't Potter and his little followers." he drawled. Crabbe and Goyle snickered from behind him. Colin immediatly spoke up on his own behalf.  
  
"What are you gonna do about it, Malfoy? Huh?" he squeaked. "The Gryffindors are gonna win that bet, you know!"  
  
Rolling his eyes, Draco pushed past the younger boy, his two henchmen following close behind. "See you at rehearsal, Potter." he called over his shoulder.  
  



	3. Hogwarts Presents a Christmas Carol - Ch...

A/N: Well, I was originally planning to give more detail on all of the rehearsals....but then I realized that if I do that, this is going to drag out forever, and I don't want to make it that long. Actually, I DID try writing a rehearsal scene...but for some reason, it didn't seme to fit right....by the way, this skips around a lot, time wise.   
  
  
  
The rehearsals were tedious and time consuming, but they went by rather smoothly, and as the show began to take shape, most everyone felt that it was well worth the effort. Professor Lupin was unable to attend a few of the rehearsals, but not much was said about it....those who knew the reason for his absences kept their mouths shut.   
  
Although Crabbe kept messing up his lines, Goyle was a surprisingly good actor. In fact, most of the Slyterins were better thespians than the Gryffindor's had given them credit for, which had some of them worried. They might have been more confidant if it weren't for the two Creevey boys....  
  
"Colin, you're supposed to say 'Bless us all', not 'gesundheit!" Hermione cried, exasperated. Several of them had gotten together to rehearse outside the schedule, and this was the fifth time the sickly looking boy had botched his lines. Colin wailed.  
  
"I'm sorry! I'm trying, really, I am!" he said, wringing his hands in a way that strongly reminded Harry of Dobby the House Elf.   
  
"Why don't we all just go get a good night's sleep? We're two days away from opening night....there's no sense worrying about this right now when we're too tired to stand." Ron suggested. Within moments, the common room was deserted.  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
  
"Five minutes to showtime, people!" McGonagall barked in the corridor where people were standing by, waiting for their cues. She had taken over the role of assistant director...giving orders was one of her strong points.  
  
The Great Hall was packed full of relatives and friends of those involved in the production. Every fifteen seconds, Ron was peeking through the crack under the doorway to the Hall, rattling on nervously about the number of people that had showed up. Hermione was pacing back and forth, white to the lips. "I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't do this..." she muttered. Draco happened to catch her words as he passed by and couldn't stop a smirk.  
  
"Well, well, well......little miss Prefect Granger getting a little bit of stage fright, eh?" he said tauntinly. Hermione glared at him, the color returning to her face in a quick burst of flaming red.   
  
"Go boil your head, Malfoy." she snapped, but he had already walked out of hearing range. The Gryffindors had begun to gather in a huddled group near the door, and she quickly joined them.  
  
"....have to show those Slytherins up, eh gang?" Fred was saying. He and George were dressed in identical outfits; the only difference was that Fred had been covered from head to toe in talcum powder, giving him a ghostly appearance. A murmur of agreement was heard from the group.  
  
"Just do your best, everyone." Hermione said, eyeing the Slytherins gathering a few feet away. "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game."  
  
She thought she heard Draco mumble something about goody two shoes Muggles, but let it slid. She could always deal with him after the play.  
  
"Shhh, quiet, Dumbledore's making his speech!" someone hissed, and all the students crowded around the door to hear. The teachers present stood towards the back, trying not to look all that interested in what was going on. Snape sidled up to McGonagall, wearing a confidant smirk.  
  
"Ready to be beaten once again, Minerva?" he asked, his words sliding greasily. She didn't look at him, but murmured quietly in response,  
  
"Remember which house won the Cup the past four years, Severus."  
  
Before he had a chance to retaliate, someone near the doors said. "It's time! We're starting! Places, everyone!"  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The play went along pretty well, with a few exceptions. Goyle was suddenly stricken with a bad case of stage fright, so he stood on the stage wordlessly while Crabbe faltered through both their lines. Colin Creevey finally got all his lines right, but his younger brother wasn't quite so lucky...Dennis didn't have any lines to miss, but he got caught with a sneezing fit in the middle of his one scene. He wasn't the only one; backstage, people were suppressing sneezes constantly because of Fred's talcum powder.  
  
The only other noticable mishap was during Cho's farewell scene with Draco....he had, by all appearances, whispered something to make her angry, and instead of simply "releasing" him and exiting the stage, she punched him square in the jaw and stormed off. This shocked the crowd at first, but they soon roared with laughter....with the exception of the Malfoys, of course.   
  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
  
"So, Potter. Looks like we've won the bet." Draco said after the play was over. He spoke with some difficulty, owing to the fact that his face was still slightly swollen from Cho's punch.   
  
"What!? You didn't win, we won!" Ron said, indignant. Draco smirked.   
  
"Hoping your house will win, then feel sorry for your shabbiness and give you all the money?" he replied. Seething, Ron tried to attack the Slytherin, but was held back by Harry. It was a good thing, too; Ron might have gotten in the way of Hermione's fist as she landed Draco a punch in the nose.  
  
As the surrounding boys stared at her in amazement, Hermione sniffed daintily and brushed off her hands. "Come on, everyone, we're going to be rather late for the cast party." she said, turning on her heel and walking away. With a shrug, Ron and Harry followed her back to the Gryffindor common room.   
  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
  
In the end, the bet had to be called off anyway because McGonagall found out about it and forbade any such dealings. Harry didn't really mind that much.....just hearing Draco trying to talk through a swollen nose for the next three days was more than enough reward.  
  


  
~The End~  
  
  


  



End file.
